he First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”.

The First Amendment protects the right to freedom of religion, and freedom of expression from government interference. Numerous court cases have involved disputes about the applicability of the First Amendment to various forms of expression. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that obscene speech, defamation, incitement of panic, incitement of crime, “fighting words’, and sedition are not protected by the First Amendment.

With regard to Information Technology (IT), obscene speech and defamation have figured as the key issues from the perspective of the First Amendment. In particular, utilization of the Internet for defamation, dissemination of hateful messages, and distribution of pornographic content are very relevant to the subject of Ethics in IT. I assume most of the class members are well-informed about the issues affecting the freedom of expression through the utilization of IT, Internet in particular.

Please respond to the following questions:

• Should our legislators add more exceptions to First Amendment protections for freedom of expression, so that it becomes feasible to successfully prosecute individuals/groups that send hateful E-mail, and encourage public to join hate groups through the Internet?

• Do you believe that additional actions should be taken to limit the dissemination of pornographic material through the Internet?

What actions are you recommending?

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